A FURIOUS farmer has today warned dog owners to keep control of their pets after one of his sheep was attacked.Richard Storer, of Baylham House Farm said one of his sheep now has an infected cheek after it was bitten in what is believed to be a dog attack.

A FURIOUS farmer has today warned dog owners to keep control of their pets after one of his sheep was attacked.

Richard Storer, of Baylham House Farm said one of his sheep now has an infected cheek after it was bitten in what is believed to be a dog attack.

Mr Storer said he believes the attack took place earlier this week when he spotted a man and a dog running among a panicked flock of sheep.

At the time Mr Storer was showing a group of Brownies around the farm but gave chase when he realised what was happening.

He said the flock appeared to be disturbed by something and ran towards where he and the Brownies were standing.

Running closely behind the sheep was a man and a dog.

Mr Storer said: “It was not the usual sheep reaction to being startled. It was the behaviour of sheep who had been badly frightened.

“As the flock came fully into view everybody saw that there was a man and a dog running with the sheep. My first assumption was that it was a jogger with his dog who had thoughtlessly run through the grazing sheep instead of keeping both himself and his dog on the nearby public footpath.

“However, it rapidly became obvious that the man was not a jogger but was trying to gain control of the loose dog which was worrying one of the ewes.”

He said the Brownies saw very little of the attack and were concentrating on another paddock at the time.

Mr Storer immediately left them under the charge of their Brown Owl and hurried towards the site of the encounter.

By the time he had negotiated two electric fences and 100 yards of meadow, the man and dog had completely vanished into the countryside.

A quick check of the ewes did not reveal any signs of blood or injury and it was assumed that no serious damage had occurred.

However when the ewe was brought in with the rest of the flock it was found to have a damaged.

Mr Storer told dog owners to keep their pets under control to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

He said: “What I find absolutely incredible is that some dog owners are arrogant enough to believe that they have total control over their animals under all circumstances and that putting their dog on a lead is not necessary. The public and their dogs have a right to be on a public footpath but they do not have the right to wander over the land through which the footpath passes.”